One Teacher`s Classroom Conclusion: Immigrants Just Don`t Want To Assimilate

Warning

And as is my
custom, I`m looking back and evaluating my effort to
teach English and to instill enthusiasm for the American
way in my students.

Is it just my imagination or does
my task grow more difficult every year?

As
usual, the
class attendance was sparse. During the two
semesters, only 350 pupils signed up—a tiny fraction of
the total number of Lodi residents who need English
language training—even though we accept students at any
time of the year.

The average daily attendance was
about 35 students. In other words, for every 10 who sign
up, only one stays in class.

The 10-1 ratio is disappointing,
but consistent with the pattern that has evolved over
the last few years.

The more non-English speakers who
arrive in Lodi, the easier it is to get by without
speaking English.

I told the students that if they
learned how to spell S-C-H-W-A-R-Z-E-N-E-G-G-E-R, they
would be among a very small percentage of people
nationwide, even including college graduates, who could
write the governor`s name correctly.

For reasons best known to the
students—perhaps being able to do something that college
graduates cannot—they took to that task with enthusiasm.

But there remained, this year as
every year, the nagging sense that my students weren`t
getting all they could out of the American experience.

Every Friday, with the weekend
edition of the Lodi News-Sentinel in front of
them, I pointed out what was going around town—much of
it free—with the hope that the students would get
involved.

A May 2005 Public Policy Institute
of California report,
"Second-Generation Immigrants in California",
reveals that, despite my experiences, I have even
underrated how serious the failure to assimilate is
among first, second and even third generation
immigrants.

Categorizing immigrants as
"Asian/Pacific", "Latino" or "White",
the P.P.I.C. found that, regardless of generation,
Latinos lag across the board in
voting, petition signing,
attending local meetings, writing to elected
officials, contributing to political campaigns and
volunteering.